Lasing characteristics of a barium vapor gas discharge laser excited by a pair of pulses

The dependence of the specific output energy on the gas-discharge conditions was studied, using the dualpulse method, in a barium vapor laser operating on a neutral atom transition from a resonance level to a metastable level (λ=1.5μ). It was found that the laser can operate at an excitation-pulse repetition rate in excess of 100 kHz. The output energy in the second oscillation pulse reaches its maximum value, which may considerably exceed that in the first pulse, for an interpulse time delay of 30–300 μsec. A specific output energy of 19 μJ/cm³ was obtained.